Car-unloading apparatus.



B. C. GLEDHILL.

GAR UNLOADING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31, 1914.

' Patented F9112, 1915.

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E. C. GLEDH-ILL. GAR UNLOADING APPARATUS.

APYIfLIGATIoVN FILED mum, 1914.

1,126,748. Patented Feb. 2, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

E. C. GLEDHILL.

GAB. UNLOADIHG APPARATUS. APPLIoATloN FILED 11.53.31, 1914.

1,126,748. Patented Feb. 2, 1915.

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l .EDWARD-cs GLEDH'ILLOI canon, oi-11o.

camUNLoADING APPARATUS. i

To all 'whom t may concern 1 b Be itpknown that I, EDWARD C. GLEDHILL, citizen, of the United States, lresiding at Galion, in the county of Crawfordand State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Unloading Apparatus, 'of which the following a speciif cation.

My invention relates to means for transferring from a railroad car, broken stone, coal, or other material, and delivering the same into a wagon or'storage bin.

One object-of the invention is to provide simple means-whereby a load of stone, coal, or other material may be quickly transferred from a railroad 'car to abin or wagon, and

a further object of the invention is topprovide. an apparatus lfor the stated purpose which may be set up'in operative relationto a-railroad track without necessitating execssive excavation under the track or at the side ofthe saine. Y l

A further obi-ect of the invention is to provide means whereby the material may be taken up gradually so that choking of the conveying mechanism below the railroad car will not be apt to occur'.

Other incidental objects of the invention willappear as the description/of the same proceeds and the invention consists in certain novel features which will be heieinafter first fullv described and then more particuv larly pointed out in the claims following the detailed description. J 'p The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a complete apparatus embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the lower `portion ofthe conveyer belt or apron. Fig. 3 is a rear end elevation with parts broken away. Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the receivingbox which is' arranged beneath the railroad track. Fig. 5

is an enlarged detail perspective view of a portion y of the frame for supporting the conveyer. Fig.` 6 vis a sectional elevation showing a modiication.

In carrying out my present invention, I arrange below the' railroad track, indicated at 1, afbox or hopper 2, which will be of such dimensions that it may fit between two of the railroad ties yand extend beyond the side of the track so as to accommodate the 'lower portion of an endless apr'on of the conveyer. l In the top of this box is provided Specification of yLetters Patent.

Application med March 31', 1.914. Serial No. 828,551.

atented Feb. 2, 19165.

a plurality ofopenings 3 which may beindependently closed or opened by means of sliding covers vor doors 4 mounted on the under s ide of the top of thebox and connected by links 5 with levers 6 at one side of the track. This arrangement permits any one of the openings to be uncovered while retaining all the others-in closed condition. i

Within this box I support a frame 7 which I oted at one end to a bracket 10 which isi secured to the lowerend of al side bar 11 of the frame for supporting said upper portion of the conveyer. At the opposite end of the side bars of the frame 7 I arrange an idle roller to support the apron or conveyer and on the ends 'of' this roller I provide sprockets 12 around which the'operating chainsv 13 are trained. Upon the side bars 11', near the lower ends thereof, I fulcrum levers 14: which extend beyond the brackets 10 and are connected by links 15-with the frame 7 By manipulating these levers I am enabled yto bring the frame 7 into alinement with the side bars 11 or arrange the same at an angle tothe said side bars so that the conveyer may be easily inserted ythrough the open top of the box 2 at the side of the track and' extend under the top ofthe box in the position shown in. Fig. 1. After the lower portion of the conveyer, that is to say, the part supported by the frame 7 is arranged within the box 2, the side barsg 11 are yadjusted to the proper inclination and the two frames .t are thenl held in a setv angular relation by'inserting a locking pin orsimilar device 16 through the lever 14 into anyone of a series' of openings 17 in a bar l 18 which is secured to the side of th'e`frame 11, as will be readilyv understood. The

pivotalconn'ection 19 between the same and the frame 7 and at the upper and lower extremities `of the bracket are provided'eyes 'bracket 10 is extended above .and below the or bearings 20 to receive the shafts of sprocket wheels 21 which engage the'chains l 13, as shown in Fig. 1, and hold the same in shown as supporting a. gas engine 23 vand Y conveyer.. y

vrises from thev truck at about the center-of the same and is provided with a series ofl also supporting a plurality of standards 4, 25 and 26. vThe standards 24 are in the form of rackbars engaged by pinions 27 mounted in suitable bearings on the truck and operated by a crank-handle 28 whereby the frame y11 maybe set at any desired height above the'truck and at any desired inclination with respect to thelower portion of the The intermediate standard 25 openings 29 through any one of which a suitable locking bolt or pin may be inserted into the body of the truck so as to secure the standard in any desired adjustment.y

The standard 26 is disposed at the end ofI the truck ,more remote from the receiving boX and is also provided with af plurality of openings 30 throughy any one of which a locking bolt orpin may be inserted into the truck. This latter standard 26 is adjustably connected to a brace 31 which extends to andl is adjustably connected to .the truck, as

. clearly shown. This arrangement permits lme to readily adjust the frame 11 to any detion to which .itl maybe adjusted.

In the upper end ofthe frame 11, I journal a shaft carrying an idle roller and also equipped with sprocket wheels 32 around which the chains 13 are trained. A band wheel 33 is also mounted upon this shaft and is connected by a driving belt 34 with the sired inclination and to hold it in the posi- Y driving shaft of the engine 23 softhat motion may be readily imparted to the. conveyer. The band wheel 33 is preferably loose on ythe shaft and is equipped with a clutch hub A35 adapted to be engaged by a clutch member 36, which isr splined upon the shaft and engaged by a lever 37 fulcrumed upon the fra-me, as shown most clearly vin Fig. 3. When the clutch member 36 is thrown into engagement withthe clutch-hub 35, the ro- I tation of the band wheel 33 will be transvmitted to the shaft and the conveyer consequently set in motion. The conveyer belt may be of any preferred and well-known form and I have deemed it unnecessary to specifically illustrate and describe the details of its construction.y

lPivotally hung in any convenient manner upon the upper end f the lframe 11 is a chute 38 which may be vsupported at any desired angle to the conveyer by braces 39 which extend to the standards 26 and are adjustably secured thereto, as lwill be readily understood upon reference to Fig. 1. If the apparatus is employed to transfer material from a railroad carqto a storage bin it will be set up so that the chute 38 will be just ovei the bin and, consequently, the material delivered to the chute, by the conveyer, will to transfer-the material to wagons by which it may be carried to the place of use, the wagons are driven to a position below the chute and the apparatus then operated so as to transfer the material from the car into a the chute which will direct it into the wagon.,

- It is thought the operation and advantages of my improved apparatus will be readily understood from the foregoing description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings. loaded is'drawnto a point over the receiving box 2 and thek material within the car permitted toflow Yslowly-therefrom onto the top of the box, One of the openings 3 in the top ofthe box is uncovered and the material will then'drop through said openingl onto the conveyer. Asthe conveyer willy set close to the' top of the box', asy shown clearly in Fig.- 1, a small quantity of material will be caught by the conveyer and will be directed, into the bin. If it is intended The cary to be unbe .carried by .it to the top of theA frame 11 where'it' willbe discharged into the chute "38. When all 'of the material over one ofthe openings in the receivingbox has been taken up by the. conveyer another opening is uncovered and a second quantity of materialwill be transferred to the bin or wagon.

This operation is repeated until the entire car load of material has been transferred.

The apparatus is exceedingly simple in the construction and arrangement of its parts and will be found highly efficient for the purposes for which it is designed. The

receivingvbox need not be very large and ywill be found of suiicient capacity if it be 'a of 'such width that it may be Aplaced beftween two of the `railroad .ties if the same are ordinarily spaced apart.. As the .ma-I

terial vwill be taken up bythe conveyer in a; thin stream,l clogging ofthe parts is` not apt to occur and the entire load may be ,20

quicklyI transferred to the warehouse orto the waiting wagon.

Inl Fig. 6 If have shown another form of apparatus in which the conveyer is in the form of an endless chain of buckets40 operating in a pocket or boot 41 carried by the' lower endof the conveyer supporting frame and disposed within a receiving box 42 which extends beneath the track.

The shaft 43 which carries the lower roller :51'30 for the elevator is equipped with. a crank 'the vouter end of said crank, the opposite end of said pitman being pivoted to the side of a feed table or box 46 which is hung within the receiving box 42 by mea-ns of links 47 and is provided with a series of stepped surfaces 48 on its bottom. The feeding table is disposed with the end more remote from the elevatorhigher than the end nearer the elevato; so that there will be a tendency of the material disposed on the feeding table to gravitate to the elevator. This tendency of the material is increased by the oscillations imparted tothe table through the crank 44 and the pitman 45 which will cause the steps 48 to positively feed the material into the pocket or boot 41 from which it will be taken up by the elevator.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is 1. In a car unloading apparatus, the combination of a receiving box, a supporting frame having one end disposed in said box at one end thereof, brackets secured to the lower end of the said frame, a supplemental frame extending longitudinally of the re ceiving box and havmg its side bars pivoted to said brackets, means on the supporting frame for moving the vsupplemental frame in a vertical plane and for locking the frames in a set relation, a conveyer mounted on and traveling over both said frames, and guides for said conveyer mounted upon the bracket adjacent and above and below the' pivotal connection between the brackets andthe supplemental frame.

2. In a car unloading apparatus, the combination of a 'receiving box extendin under a railroad track, a supporting rame having one end disposed in said receiving box at one side of the railroad track, a supplemental frame pivotally connected to the said end of said supporting frame and extending therefrom longitudinally of the receiving box, means on the main frame for locking the supplemental frame, in a set relation to the said frame, a conveyer mounted on and traveling over both said frames, and guides for said conveyer at the sides of the frames above and below the pivotal connection between the same, said guides being disposed in an oblique plane with the pivotal connection between the frames, and the upper guide being located over the supplemental. frame and the lower guide being disposed below the lower end of the supporting frame.

. 3. The combination of a main frame, a supplemental frame pivoted thereto, means for locking the frames in a set relation, brackets secured to the-main frame adjacent the pivotal connection of the supplemental frame therewith, pinions carried by said-l brackets above and below said pivotal connection, sprocket chains trainedv around the frames and engaged by said pinions, an endless belt connected to `said chains, and means for imparting motion to the chains.

In testimony whereof I atix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD c; GLEDHILL. [1.5.1.

Witnesses:

CARI. J. GUGLER, MENzANrrA SMITH. 

